Hello All,I have 2 separate but related questions. Before I jump in, I am within my weight limits and fully understand a heavier truck would tow better than our Yukon. With that said, I have 2 questions.1- Sway control. What is the absolute best system? Our travel trailer is just over 30' and when I bought it a few years ago I relied on the RV dealer to recommend the hitch equipment. What they gave me was Reese WD system 800b (tongue weight is in the 650 range) and a single friction sway bar. When I am towing at slower speeds through the hills I have no problem, but anything over 50 mph and the sway gets pretty bad. Windy days can get a bit scary. I would like to get the best sway system I can to completely eliminate the sway if possible. I have played with the WD setup to see if I could eliminate sway that way. I thought the tongue weight might be a little light so I dropped down from the 3rd chain link to the second to see if that helped. Not sure if it helped the sway because it made handling pretty bad so I quickly put it back.2- We have a new 2015 Yukon. I used to tow with a 1/2 ton Ram so similar capabilities (obviously less payload). However... the new Yukon has an auto leveling rear air suspension. It is pretty cool in that any load added and the compressor kicks on and levels the rear. My question is when should I set the WD bars. Should I drop the hitch on the ball, allow the air ride to level, and then set WD bars? or turn the truck off and set WD bars, then allow air ride to adjust? Or does it matter at all?The big issue here is the sway control. Is what I have as good as it gets? should I add a second friction bar? better systems? Thanks for your help!

The absolute best sway system is either the Hensley Arrow or ProPride P3 hitch system, hands down. These are the only 2 that use the geometry of the 4-bar linkage to prevent sway sway, not just manage it. Another good choice is the Pull-Rite if they make one for your vehicle.Regarding the auto-level on the Yukon, read your owner's manual, it should tell you the specific steps for hitching a WD hitch with auto-leveling.

It would be easier to offer advice on a good hitch if you would give specifics on the trailer being towed and the tow vehicle.If all you're looking for is general info, I guess your question is adequate.I prefer Reese or Equalizer hitches (weight distribution and sway control). Hensley hitches and the like are good, some argue the best, but if you have enough tow vehicle for your trailer then they are really overkill and extremely expensive for whatever perceived benefit there may be. My opinion only.Hensley "prevents" sway by transferring the forces involved in sway into the vehicles in question - your truck and trailer. If you don't have enough truck to begin with....I've towed with a Hensley and couldn't tell the difference from my Reese dual cam, but then again, my priority is making sure I have enough truck to pull my trailer.I'm awaiting delivery of an Arctic Fox 28F with a GVWR of 10.4K. I'm pulling it with a Reese SC hitch w/1200 pound bars because it's a good hitch and I'm tired of dealing with chains. I'm dragging it with a 1 ton.Trying to recommend a hitch for pulling 30 feet behind an light SUV without even knowing what your target tongue weight is would be a SWAG at best.

Thats a mighty short wheel base TV for a 30' trailer

If the OP’s Reese WD bars have the crook in the end (not straight) then the next step up would be to add the Reese Straight Line (other name-> Twin Cam) to the existing hitch. The only way to change tongue weight is to shift cargo in the trailer from the rear to the front. Changing the links on the WD only changes the distribution of the tongue weight from the rear to the front of the tow vehicle. Too little WD bar “could” cause a bit of over-steer.

I would think that eliminating the cause of the sway rather than bandaiding it with a different hitch should be a priority.Is the tongue weight of the TT at least 12 to 15% of the loaded up weight?I use a Sureline scale to check my tongue weight before pulling out. I've had to move some weight to the back to bring it under 15%. But I've added extra batteries, larger propane tanks and gas can to the tongue. My fresh water tank is forward of the axles As well as a heavier memory foam mattress and the forward storage compartment full of tools, grill, air tank, ladder, bottle jack, etc.

Best sway control & Yukon towing | Good Sam Community

APT
Explorer
Apr 23, 2015
Since you are askign about the angle of the ball, this thread about how a WDH works and this thread about how to adjust a WDH my help.
BarneyS
Explorer III
Apr 23, 2015
Put enough tilt on the head to allow you a minimum of 5 links under tension when the bars are drawn up. If you get the WD you need with more than that (6 or more) all the better. The only time you might want less than 5 links under tension would be with a very small Aframe trailer (3 or 4 inch frame members)but in that case you would not need to be putting much tension on those bars in the first place.

Also keep in mind that that "bars should be level or parallel with the A frame" statement ONLY applies to the round "L" shaped bars and NOT to the trunnion style of bars on the traditional style of WD hitch.
The new Blue Ox hitch is a slightly different animal and the tilt is built in and not adjustable.
Barney
jerem0621
Explorer II
Apr 22, 2015
Just a note about welding the tab onto your existing head. My local dealer told me they would do it for me for about $10.00-$20.00. I would do that before I bought a whole new hitch.

Thanks!

Jeremiah
mikeinaz
Explorer
Apr 22, 2015
Funny you ask I was wondering the same thing. I am sure one of the experts will chime in as they have it down to a science. Parallel to the frame seemed to be what I remember bar wise so the tilt of the head controls that.

The one hitch I am considering if I need to step up to a better system than I have is the Blue Ox and it has a pretty good tilt to it, after reading all the Blue Ox reviews and comments it appears that is where a lot of the sway prevention comes into play as well. On theirs it allows the bars to be ratcheted up and flexed more therefore providing more control. Like I said I am sure one of the guys who really knows will give a lot of good info.
kfp673
Explorer II
Apr 22, 2015
mikeinaz wrote:
Air up those tires to max PSI as JEREM0621 said, made a world of difference when I did that. I also have a 30' TT and a short wheelbase TV, a newer style Durango. Last pull I made was taking the TT to storage last year, aired up the tires to max PSI and had made an adjustment to my hitch, dropping the height 1.5" as I felt I was a tad 'nose up'. Drove 3 miles down the freeway w/ no friction sway control attached (just wdh engaged) and had no sway at 65mph.

Will take it out on a trip here in the next few weeks and see how it is on a normal road trip, with sway hooked up of course. I had been debating getting a 2nd friction bar or upgrading to a different hitch altogether but those two things seemed to make a HUGE difference.

Yes I am definitely at max PSI. My ball is dropped as far as the shank allows it, however it may be a valid point. Seems pretty level to me but maybe the air suspension is raising it to be a bit nose up. I'll look at that and if it seems to be the case I guess I'll have to get a new shank.

I wish their was a way to easily add a second friction bar without having to buy a whole new hitch to see if that is enough. As mentioned in an earlier post Curt only sells the single friction attachment and it seems as though you would have to weld / modify yourself to add another.

Also, is their a "rule of thumb" as to how much tilt you should have on the ball for the WD bars to function properly but not too much?
mikeinaz
Explorer
Apr 22, 2015
Air up those tires to max PSI as JEREM0621 said, made a world of difference when I did that. I also have a 30' TT and a short wheelbase TV, a newer style Durango. Last pull I made was taking the TT to storage last year, aired up the tires to max PSI and had made an adjustment to my hitch, dropping the height 1.5" as I felt I was a tad 'nose up'. Drove 3 miles down the freeway w/ no friction sway control attached (just wdh engaged) and had no sway at 65mph.

Will take it out on a trip here in the next few weeks and see how it is on a normal road trip, with sway hooked up of course. I had been debating getting a 2nd friction bar or upgrading to a different hitch altogether but those two things seemed to make a HUGE difference.
kfp673
Explorer II
Apr 21, 2015
Great responses all. Thank you! I have some homework to do on these Hitches. I honestly did not realize there were $2500 hitches so I am still trying to catch my breath a bit :-)

After reading these posts I did find that section in my manual that states to allow the vehicle to level prior to adjusting the WD hitch. Seems strange to me but I guess I will continue doing it that way. If nothing else it should provide a stiffer rear suspension that way. I will work on getting my weights and look into these hitches. The debate I am having with myself now is whether I should spend the big $ right away, or spend $4-500 on the EQ or Reese and hope that is good enough. I read great reviews on these 2. Thanks again!
hawkeye-08
Explorer III
Apr 20, 2015
BurbMan wrote:
The absolute best sway system is either the Hensley Arrow or ProPride P3 hitch system, hands down. These are the only 2 that use the geometry of the 4-bar linkage to prevent sway sway, not just manage it. Another good choice is the Pull-Rite if they make one for your vehicle.

Regarding the auto-level on the Yukon, read your owner's manual, it should tell you the specific steps for hitching a WD hitch with auto-leveling.

X2
gijoecam
Explorer
Apr 20, 2015
As someone already posted the OEM procedure, I won't beat that dead horse, save to say that's the way one should always set up their rig if air suspension is involved. Otherwise, there is no way to know how the WDH will impact the weight transfer.

Hensly or ProPride are the hands-down 'best' when it comes to performance. The design truly inhibits sway.

Any of the other sway-control hitch setups will be adequate at damping sway should it occur.

A friction sway control is, IMHO, at the bottom of the list for 'best'. That being said, they are perfectly adequate if set up properly.
APT
Explorer
Apr 20, 2015
Spend $15 before $500, or $2500 on a new hitch. Start a a scale to find out where you stand for weights with reqpect to all your Yukon's ratings, what % of trailer TW, and how well the WDH is adjusted. Since you mentioned self leveling suspension, that tends to complicate WDH adjustment.

Get 3 passes. Truck alone, truck plus trailer without WD and truck plus trailer with WD. You want to know the Yukon's front axle weight, rear axle weight, and your TTs combined axle weights. A Cat Scale is designed to provide that.